Cozy Mystery Food

Liddy Crawford, best friend of food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell, is getting married. The wedding is the talk of the town in Bar Harbor, Maine, including snide gossip about the age gap between the bride and her groom, local lawyer Sonny Lipton. But the cruelty of the comments is nothing compared to the nasty wedding-cake baker, Liddy's quarrelsome cousin Lisa. So when the belligerent baker is found facedown in a three-tier cake, the victim of a poisoned slice, there are more suspects in town than names on the guest list.

Take an armchair trip to the Mexican Riviera! Runaway Bride Abandons Cruise Wedding The Butler women are on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera to attend a shipboard wedding, looking forward to sipping margaritas in the sun. When Cassie's friend, a rich heiress goes missing before the wedding, chaos ensues. Was it just wedding jitters or did something sinister happen to her? Anna sets her grief aside and goes sleuthing again, accompanied by her debonair gentleman friend. Neither wedding guest nor family member escapes her scrutiny as she struggles to find a motive. The stakes are raised when ...

Darci Hannah presents Book 2 in the Food and Spirits Mystery series.

Faith Franklin feels like she’s walking on air since moving to beautiful, sunny Florida. Her café, Slice of Paradise, is thriving. She’s met the man of her dreams. And, together with her friend, Laura, she has even begun writing a recipe column for the local paper, The Paradise Gazette. Everything is falling into place! So, when she’s asked to prepare some of her delicious treats for a boat party hosted by the newspaper, no one is surprised when her catering is a huge hit. What is a surprise, however, is the drowning that occurs when the fashion columnists falls overboard. Was the ...

Hayley Snow's life has always revolved around food, but when she applies to be a food critic for a Key West style magazine, she discovers that her new boss will be Kristen Faulkner—the woman Hayley caught in bed with her boyfriend! Hayley thinks things are as bad as they can get...until the police pull her in as a suspect in Kristen's murder. Kristen was killed by a poisoned key-lime pie. Now Hayley must find out who used meringue to murder before she takes all the blame...

On the eve of her high school reunion, Hayley Powell dreads seeing the trio of mean girls who used to torment her: Sabrina Merryweather, Nykki Temple, and former prom queen Ivy Foster. These days Ivy wears a different crown as the cupcake queen - and flaunting her success is just the icing on the cake.

In the glittering heart of Vancouver, inside a lavish hotel, the quest for eternal youth takes a sinister turn. For four individuals, the looming dread of aging becomes an obsession, fueling their desperation for Jeanine Bouchard's revolutionary skin cream – a miraculous concoction promising not only to reverse the ravages of time but to heal any wound. But how far would one go for a second chance at youth? As rivalries intensify, the line between ambition and madness blurs, turning desire into a deadly game. With a stellar ensemble of characters and a twist you won't see coming, this ...

When a member of Pinewood Hollow’s beloved knitting club is found strangled with a half-finished scarf, the cozy group becomes the focus of a shocking murder investigation. Bakery and craft shop owner Violet “Vi” Dumont knows something isn’t right, and with her mischievous ginger cat Muffin leading the way, she begins to unravel the tangled web of secrets surrounding the death. As Vi digs deeper, she discovers hidden rivalries, stolen knitting patterns, and bitter feuds within the seemingly tight-knit group. With the help of Detective Marcus Reed and Muffin’s uncanny ability to ...

It is a truth universally acknowledged - cops and donuts go together. Exhibit A: Deputy Donut Cafe, owned and operated by detective's widow Emily Westhill. Named after Emily's adored and adorable tabby, the donut shop is a favorite among cops. But a twisted killer has found another use for Emily's treats. At the picnic, a firecracker is hidden in a stack of raspberry-filled donuts and aimed at the unwitting queen of the festivities. When it explodes, she is killed. Having her jelly donuts involved puts Emily in a sticky situation.

Who better than food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell to book a caterer for the Island Times holiday party? But Hayley's quest for a cook turns into the pursuit of a killer who caters to no one....

Death by devil's food—but was it really the cake? Savannah Stanton thought she was finally settling into small-town life in Spring Grove. But when a prestigious judge drops dead during the town's annual Dessert Festival—right after sampling Holly's signature devil's food cake—Savannah finds herself kneading through far more than just dough. With the bakery's reputation at stake and whispers of sabotage rising like badly proofed bread, Savannah must sift through a cast of colorful suspects: a fiercely competitive rival baker, a resentful estranged brother, and a host of other townsfolk...

The annual Key West Loves Literature seminar is drawing the biggest names in food writing from all over the country, and Haley Snow is there to catch a few fresh morsels of insider gossip. Superstar restaurant critic Jonah Barrows has already ruffled a few foodie feathers with his recent tell-all memoir, and as keynote speaker, he promises more of the same jaw-dropping honesty.

Thanksgiving is nearly here, and Key West food critic Hayley Snow has just one more assignment to put to bed for Key Zest magazine before she gets to celebrate with her family and her police officer fiance, Nathan Bransford. Then, just days later, wedding bells will ring - if death doesn't toll first. The sweet potatoes and stuffing will have to wait when Hayley picks up a distraught phone call from her friend Analise Smith. On the last stop of a seafood tasting tour run by Analise, one of the customers collapsed - dead.

In the charming coastal town of Seagrove Harbor, the annual Harvest Festival is a celebration of community, food, and friendship—until tragedy strikes. When beloved organic grocer, Maria Alvarez, collapses after sampling her famous salsa, the idyllic atmosphere shatters, leaving everyone questioning the innocence of their cherished traditions. Lila McAllister, owner of the Seagrove Bakery & Café, can't shake the feeling that something sinister lurks beneath the surface. Teaming up with Maria's niece, aspiring detective Izzy Alvarez, the duo dives into a web of secrets, jealousy, and ...

For better or worse, Hayley has agreed to bake over 200 cupcakes for her friend Connie’s wedding while still meeting her writing deadlines. The last thing she needs is family drama. But her parents come barreling down on the island like a category 3 hurricane, and on their first night in town her stepbrother, Roby, disappears into the spring-break party scene in Key West.

Her sourdough is to die for... but someone took that literally. Caroline Baker thought she'd left the cutthroat world of professional baking behind when she transformed her grandmother's café into Milburn's most beloved gathering spot. But when her former boss—celebrity chef and notorious food critic Sophia Montgomery—arrives to judge the town's bicentennial baking competition, old wounds are reopened faster than a warm oven. After a very public argument where Sophia threatens to reveal a secret that could destroy everything Caroline has built, the critic is found face-down in a bowl ...

It may be Christmastime, but thoughts of peace on earth, goodwill toward men don’t seem to extend to the restaurant biz. Hayley has been assigned to interview Edel Waugh, chef/owner of Key West’s hottest new restaurant. But off the record, Edel reveals someone’s sabotaging her kitchen and asks Hayley to investigate.

Hoping for some good publicity, Hayley’s boss at Key Zest magazine signs her up to help judge the Key West Topped Chef contest. Stakes are high as the winner could be the next cooking-show superstar. Hayley shows up for the filming nervous but excited, until she sees who’s on the judging panel with her: Sam Rizzoli, big shot businessman—and owner of the restaurant she just panned in her first negative review. When Rizzoli turns up dead, the police assume his killer is one of his business rivals.

Wedding Shower Ends in Bride's Murder Everyone knows the groom's grandmother does not approve of the bride. But would she actually kill her? The richest family in town is implicated in murder and Jenny King reluctantly steps in to investigate. Jenny finds there are very few suspects and hardly any motive. Spring flings are in vogue and the pretty bride may not have been that innocent. Is the distraught groom just putting on an act? Jenny goes around in circles trying to separate the real clues from the red herrings. Meanwhile, Adam and Jenny are in no hurry to tie the knot. But the clock ...

Tucked away down a Kyoto backstreet lies the extraordinary Kamogawa Diner, run by Chef Nagare and his daughter, Koishi. The father-daughter duo have reinvented themselves as “food detectives,” offering a service that goes beyond cooking mouth-watering meals. Through their culinary sleuthing, they harness the power of taste to rekindle forgotten memories.